PRESIDENT Benigno Aquino III on Thursday appointed a new commissioner of the Bureau of Immigration to replace Siegfred Mison, who was sacked on allegations of corruption.
Appointed to the post was Ronaldo A. Geron Jr., who had previously been deputy executive secretary for finance and administration at the Office of the President, Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. said.
Geron has been in public service for over 20 years, including stints as provincial administrator of Batangas and member of the provincial board. He graduated from the University of the Philippines College of Law in 1987 and was admitted to the Bar in 1988, Coloma added.
Mison was dismissed because the National Bureau of Investigation found him liable of grave misconduct for detaining a Korean fugitive in a poorly secured room, which allowed him to escape.
In a statement, Mison said he encouraged everyone in the bureau to extend Geron the same cooperation they showed him in his four-and-a-half years as commissioner.
“As I leave the Bureau, I thank President Aquino for giving me the opportunity to serve in his administration and the Filipino people….On my part, I did what I could to follow the straight path with much dedication expected from any public servant,” Mison said.
He said he would answer the NBI allegations in the proper venue and time.
Geron said there would be no immediate personnel movements and said he would have to consult with Justice Secretary Alfredo Benjamin Caguiao about pending deportation cases, particularly those of high-risk fugitives.
Geron is said to be closely associated with Ochoa and Caguiao, and was a classmate of President Aquino at the Ateneo de Manila University.
The NBI report said Mison was liable for grave misconduct for allowing the detention of Korean Cho Seongdae in a poorly guarded room within the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces compound in Camp Aguinaldo, a transfer that enabled him to escape on Oct. 21.
Cho, tagged for human trafficking and extortion, was transferred to ISAFP on Oct. 10, 11 days after he fled the Bureau of Immigration Warden Facility in Bicutan, Taguig City on Sept. 29, through an alleged P1 million payoff to Immigration officers.
The Korean has been detained at the NBI headquarters in Manila since he was rearrested in Pagsanjan town in Laguna on Nov. 1.
Cho, also facing criminal cases in his homeland, was arrested on Aug. 7 in an entrapment operation. He was placed under BI custody on Sept. 11.
Earlier, Mison and his associate commissioners, Gilberto Repizo and Abdullah Mangotara, were investigated for allegedly taking bribes from the Chinese figutive Wang Bo.
The Chinese embassy had sought the deportation of Wang, who is wanted in China for allegedly embezzling $100 million.
Mison voted in favor for the deportation but was outvoted by his two deputies.
There were allegations of a P100 million bribe given by Wang to secure his release but these were unsubstantiated. Wang was eventually deported in August 2015.
Mison has denied the allegations against him.